PAGE 6 | March 17 , 2017 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
PEOPLE
Governor appoints unionists
to state boards
A recent batch of executive ap-
pointments nominated by Ore-
gon Gov. Kate Brown con-
tained a number of names
familiar to organized labor.
United Food and Commer-
cial Workers Local 555 Presi-
dent Dan Clay was appointed
to the Oregon Retirement
Savings Board. The board is
overseeing the establishment of
Apprenticeship
Opening
Glaziers
The Oregon & SW Washington
Glaziers Joint Apprenticeship &
Journeyman Training Program will
be opening to accept applications
to create a pool of eligible
applicants. Applicants must be at
least 18 years old. Must apply in
person and furnish a copy of a
high school diploma and grade
transcript or GED and test scores
at time of application.
Applications will be taken
a soon-to-
launch retire-
ment savings
plan open to
all private
sector work-
ers in Oregon
whose em-
ployers don’t
sponsor one.
Dan Clay
Local 555 is
Oregon’s largest private sector
union, representing workers in
grocery and retail, food produc-
tion, and other industries.
Rachel Brozovich, president
of Keizer Fire Fighters Local
3881, was named to the Work-
ers’ Compensation Manage-
ment-Labor Advisory Com-
mittee (MLAC). The com-
mittee advises the Legislature
about any proposed changes to
the state workers’ compensation
system.
Siobhan Martin, deputy
executive director of Service
Employees International
Union Local 503, will serve
April 24 thru May 5, 2017
Monday thru Friday,
9 to 11 a.m. and 1 to 3 p.m.
Glaziers Training Center
Mt. Hood Community College,
Room GE 108
26000 SE Stark St., Gresham, OR
Women and minorities encouraged to
apply; Veterans’ GI Benefits may apply
140
on the Public Employees’
Benefit Board (PEBB), which
oversees the administration of
benefits for about 140,000 state
employees.
Union-side labor attorney
Jennifer Sung, a partner at the
McKanna Bishop Joffe law
firm, was named to the Oregon
Employment Relations
Board. The three-member
board functions as a kind of
Supreme Court for Oregon’s
public employee collective bar-
gaining law, interpreting the
law and resolving disputes be-
tween public employee unions
and employers.
The appointments will take
effect later this month follow-
ing a confirmation vote by the
Oregon Senate.
D Pei Wu leaves helm of
Portland Jobs with Justice
D Pei Wu is stepping down af-
ter two years as executive di-
rector of
Portland Jobs
with Justice,
a non-profit
worker jus-
tice coalition
made up of
over 100
member
faith, labor,
and commu-
D Pei Wu
nity organi-
zations. A search is under way
for her successor.
Who’s on our side?
By Tom Chamberlain Oregon AFL-CIO President
Support House Bill 2004
Over the years, Portland has been recognized as one of Amer-
ica’s best cities in a number of categories, including seniors,
livability, food, beer drinking, vegans, and year after year the
best airport in the country. All of which are good, and all rec-
ognize the uniqueness of Portland.
Recently, Portland received another first: Leading the na-
tion in the fastest rising housing costs. Last year housing costs
in Portland increased by 11.1 percent. According to a 2015-
16 Wage Trend Report by the MBL Group, Portland Metro
wages increased by 3 percent.
Lower income households
have been disproportionately
impacted. The rule of thumb of
The housing
percentage of income spent on
crisis is affecting
housing is 30 percent of a
worker’s income. In Oregon,
all workers,
Fair Market Rent for a 2-bed-
including those
room apartment is $1,008 per
represented by
month, and $1,208 in the Port-
a union on the
land Metropolitan Area. The av-
erage Oregon renter is paying
job.
upwards of 50 percent of their
income on housing costs.
To state the problem in a different way, a minimum wage
worker in Portland would have to work 100 hours per week
to afford a 2-bedroom apartment — if they can find one. Ore-
gon’s housing inventories are the lowest since 2005, when
Oregon’s population was 400,000 people less than it is today.
Oregon’s low inventory of housing has given landlords an
unbridled opportunity to reap large profits at the expense of
working people. It doesn’t matter if you live in Medford,
Bend, or Portland, workers are finding it harder and harder to
pay the bills and feed their kids. And they now face a housing
market that pushes them farther and farther from their work-
place and essential services.
No-cause evictions and rampant rent increases are left
unchecked by a state which forbids rent stabilization at the lo-
cal level and, until recently, forbade inclusionary zoning.
House Bill 2004 was introduced to provide stability for the
4-in-10 Oregonians who rent their homes. Far too many
renters who pay their rent on time and play by the rules are
evicted without cause and in some cases, in retaliation for re-
questing repairs to their homes. Others are evicted because
the landowner wants to raise the rent, but doesn’t want to ex-
plain that to the tenant. House Bill 2004 puts an end to these
destabilizing practices. The establishment of a just-cause stan-
dard for the termination of a lease prevents landlords from us-
ing no-cause evictions as a means to retaliate or discriminate
against tenants.
House Bill 2004 would give local governments the ability
to stabilize rents in their communities. It provides landlords
with a reasonable rate of return on their investment and gives
renters predictability of rent increases at a moderate rate. And,
finally, House Bill 2004 allows local government the authority
to develop policies to pay the cost of renter relocation by the
landlord under certain conditions.
I encourage all of you reading this article to write, email or
call your state legislator and ask them to support House Bill
2004. The housing crisis is affecting all workers, including
those represented by a union on the job. This bill is an impor-
tant way to give the necessary and immediate relief to renters
in this incredibly difficult time. It is easy: go to http://orafl-
cio.org/salem to find your legislator’s contact information.
Tom Chamberlain is president of the Oregon AFL-CIO, a 130,000-member-strong
federation of labor unions.